The first thing that comes to mind when I hear “school cafeteria” is mystery meat. You know, the suspicious food product made up of a conglomeration of processed meat products and served by a slightly cranky lunch lady in a hairnet. Not a pretty picture, is it? Mystery meat is the classic image of a middle school or high school cafeteria, one in which there are assigned seats, teachers on duty watching your every move, silent lunches, and french fries that are only served on Fridays. But not to worry, after seven-plus years of these “interesting” culinary situations, there seems to be a savior in sight. This savior is known as the college dining hall.
My first experience with a college dining hall was in eighth grade, when my grade went on a field trip to The College of New Jersey, a local university. Although it was too early for me to be thinking about colleges, I enjoyed the setting of the school and my experience on campus. Now that I am a junior in high school and my college search has officially begun, I have made various college visits and have seen the insides of multiple college dining halls. My first impression was that they tend to closely resemble a food court, like the ones that can be found in a mall. There are sometimes separate sections for each type of food, whether it is Italian, Chinese or vegan.
Meal plans differ from school to school, where some let you swipe in and take as much as you want buffet style, others let you pay à la carte (based on what you order). One school I went to even had fast food chains inside of one of their dining halls! I can say that this is definitely what I have dreamed of eating for lunch in high school.
Some college dining halls, like the one in this picture, remind me of an office building cafeteria. This atmosphere seems more professional than a high school cafeteria, and you can pretty much be sure that you will spot multiple students working on assignments while eating. I can just picture myself sitting there, working on an important thesis paper.
Besides the basic appearance and feelings that I got when I first entered a college dining hall, I know there is still one important topic I have yet to discuss: the food itself. Remember the image of that mystery meat and the lunch lady in the hairnet? Well, that is completely not the case when it comes to dining halls. The food was actually really good at the few places I visited, which is a major plus. Although I have only tried a few types of sandwiches and pasta, the choices seem infinite and I don’t think I would ever get tired of the extensive options available.
So, what do you think? When you put everything together, college dining halls really do seem like a (giant) step up from what we are used to in high school. So, take a deep breath fellow Pre- Collegiettes™, because in my opinion, dining halls are now one less category for me to worry about when looking into which college I will attend in the future.
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